Numbering mechanism.



H. L. JENSEN. NUMBERING MECHANISM.

APPLIOATIQN FILED JAN. 2,1912.

Patented July 14, 1914.

mgmvsf time sr y i HANS LOUIS JENSEN, OF DAYTON, OHlO, ASSIGNOR TO THE EGRY 'REGISTER COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORORATION OF OHIO.

NU1VIBERING MECHANISIVI.

i iesolo.

Application tiled January 2, 1912.

To HU vri/mm z'z. may concern:

le it. known that I, HANS Louis JENSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Da vton. in the, county of Montgomery and Specication of Letters Patent.

anism and'is designed more particularly forl printing consecutive numbers upon printed. forms or bills in the course of their passagef through the printing press.

The object of the invention is to provide! a simple, positively actuated device which will number each bill and will be automati-'g cally actuated to cause the successive bills"y to be consecutively numbered; to provide such a device which may be operated at a relatively low speed, thereby` insuring acln these drawings I haveillustrated oneembodiment of the invention and have shown the same as comprising a rotary supporting member, such as the hollow frame 1 which is provided at its opposite ends with hollow trunnions Q journaled in main frame 3. In these drawings I have illustrated but one end only of this supporting frame, but it will be understood that the other end thereof is of a similar construction and is supported in a similar manner.

rllhe printing press with which this device is designed for use will usually print a series of three bills or forms simultaneously and the supporting frame for the numbering mechanism is of a length sufficient to accommodate a separate numbering device for each of the series of bills or forms. The supporting frame may be rotated in any suitable manner and, in the present instance, is shown as having a gear i secured to one Patented July 14, 1911.

Serial No. 668,867.

of the hollow trunnions 2 and adapted to be driven from any suitable source of power, but preferably from some other' movin g part of the press, thereby enabling the mechanism to be accurately timed with the movement of the printing mechanism.

The numbering device or devices may be of any suitable character and maybe mounted upon the supporting frame as desired, As here shown each numbering device is indicated as a whole by the reference numeral 5 and comprises a series of printing counters 6 having upon their peripheries suitable type. These counters are carriedby a shaft 7 mounted in arms 8 of a bracket 9, said shaft being disposed longitudinally of the iframe. Aetuating movement is imparted to the units counter by means of a lever or arm 1'() which may be connected with the units counter in any suitable manner and this movement maybe transferred from the units counter to the tens counter, etc., by the usual mechanism.

The construction. of the numbering device per Se, its actuating and transfer mechanism is not a part of the present'invention and as this is of a well known construction l do not deem it necessary to describe and show the same in detail. Suffice it to say that the movement of the actuating arm l() will cause the counters to be advanced one step. The supporting frame is provided with a longitudinal opening 11 to receive the numbering device and the bracket 9 which carries the same is adjustably mounted upon longitudinal members 12 and 13 forming a part of the supporting frame and spaced apart to provide a slot 1li. A bolt 15 extends through the bracket and through the slot 14 and serves to adjustably connect the bracket to the frame.

lt will be apparent that Lne numbering device revolves with the supporting frame and t-he operating mechanism for advancing the counters step by step is preferably located within the hollow fra-me 1 and is of such a character that the rotation of the frame relatively thereto will cause the numbering device to be actuated. As here shown this operating mechanism comprises a shaft 16 extending through the hollow frame l and its hollow trunnions and held normally against movement therewith. This shaft is provided with bearing portions which, as here shown, are in the form of disks 17 an arm 19 with the actuating lever or arm 1() of the numbering device.

It will be obvious that the rotation of the frame about the eccentric bearing 17 will v cause the position of the band 18 with relation to the arm 10 to vary and this shifting of positions will impart to the arm 10 a movement sufficient to advance the counters of the numbering device one step. This construction further enables the numbering operation t0 be interrupted without interrupting the movement of the-press, this being accomplished by mounting the shaft 16 in eccentric bearings B and rotating the same by a lever C a distance sufficient to cause the axis of the bearing portion 17 thereof to coincide with the axis of the supporting frame. When these axes are coincident there will, of course, be yno movement on the 'part of the eccentric-strap with relation to the actuatin arm 10 and consequently no movement Wil be imparted to the counters.

The forms or bills are usually printed in rolls of a predetermined number and at the end of each roll it is usually desirable to run off a few eXtra forms which will not be used and, therefore, should not be numbered, as to sonumber them would destroy the consecutiveness of the numbers for the succeeding roll. With this arrangement of the numbering mechanism when the last form of the roll has been numbered the shaft 16 is actuated to render the operating mechanism inoperative and when it is desired to begin a new roll the shaft is again actuated to move the bearing portion 17 into eccentric relation to the frame, thereby again rendering the mechanism operative.

In order that the mechanism may be actuated ata relatively low rate of speed I have provided the same with two numberingde- -vices which are preferably arranged' on diametrically opposite sides of the 'supporting frame and are both operated from the eccentric bearing disk in the manner above described. These numbering devices are provided with alternate numerals, that is, one numbering device will carry the odd numerals, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, and the other numbering device will carry the even numerals O, 2, 4, 6 and 8. The supporting frame is so timed that it will make half a revolution for each bill or form that is printed and, therefore, the numbering devices will engage alternate bills or forms and thus consecutive numbers will be printed on successive bills. In the present instance I have employed ten point counter wheels and have provided each 'counter wheel willi two series respectively, in red ink.

of numerals. This arrangement, however, is optional and is not essential to the invention. By operating the device at a low rate of speed greater accuracy is assured and there is less liability of the parts being disarranged.

I have also provided means for printing upon each bill or form an indication other than and in addition to its consecutive number. As above stated, the forms or bills are usually printed in series, that is, the press will print. at one operation a series of bills, usually three. In most eases, as for example in the case of way-bills, the three bills of'the series constitute the original, duplicate and triplicate of the bill when the latter is issued and it is customary to' so mark the bill by printing thereon 'the numerals 1, 2 and 3, To enable this designation or any other desirable designation to be printed 0n the bills or forms I provide means for attaching to the supporting frame the necessary type. In the present instance the exterior of the frame is provided with a series of longitudinal dove-tailed slots in which the type holders are mounted and adjustably secured. as indicated at 20.

The operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that the numbering mechanism which I have invented is of a very simple character, is positive in its operation and is automatically actuated to advance the same step by step and thus cause it to print consecutive numbers upon successive bills.

IVhile I have illustrated one embodiment of the invention it will be understood that this has been chosen for the purpose of illustration only and that I dol/not desire to be limited to the. details of construction shown and described, for obviousfmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Iatent, is:- p

1. The combination. with a revolving support, and two numbering` devices carried by said support on opposite'sides thereof. said numbering devices being provided with alternate numerals to cause them to print consecutive numbers, of a normally1 fixed bearing portion arranged eccentrically with relation to the axis of said support. and arms mounted on said eccentric bearing portion and connected with the respective numbering devices. whereby the movement of said support relative to said fixed bearing will canse each of said numbering devices to be actuated once upon each revolution of said support.

2. The combination. with a main frame, of a shaft eccentrically supported in said frame, a supporting frame journaled in the between said band and said numbering demain frame about said shaft, a numbering device carried by said supporting frame, an operative connection for the device including an eccentric fixed on the shaft, and means for shifting the shaft to cause the axis of said eccentric to coincide with the axis of the support and thereby render said connection inoperative.

3. The combination, with a revolving support, and a numbering device carried by Said support, of a normally fixed member having a bearing portion arranged eccentrically with relation to said sup-port, a band i 4mounted on said bearing portion and adapted to move with said support, a connection y vice to actuate the latter, and means for shifting said normally ixed member to coincide with the axis of said support,

thereby rendering the connection between said fixed member and said numbering device inoperative.

4. The combination, with a shaft, a revolving support mounted to rotate about said shaft, and a numbering device carried by said support, of an operative connection between said shaft and said numbering device including an eccentric rigidly mounted on the shaft, and means to change the position of said shaft to cause the axis of said eccentric to coincide with the axis o-said support and thereby render said connection 

